EPA Region 10 dbf utilities.
Version 5.7 July 13, 1998


This package is a set of utilities for translating data between dBASE
dbf, ASCII, and ARC/INFO formats.  Most of the programs run either as
ARC commands or as system commands independent of ARC/INFO.

An install script is included that configures, builds, tests, and
installs the package.  Pre-compiled packages are available for several
systems.

These programs were developed for EPA use, but have been released as
free software.  Anyone can use them.

A web page is available that describes the package, including changes
since the last version, and links to download the package.  This page
is available from the software section of the EPA Region 10 home page:

  http://www.epa.gov/r10earth/r10.html


Utilities included
------------------

The following utilities are implemented as ARC commands, but they do
not require ARC/INFO, and may also be installed as system commands.

  dbf2info    -- Creates an INFO data file from a dBASE dbf file.
  info2dbf    -- Creates an dBASE dbf file from INFO data file.
  ascii2info  -- Creates an INFO data file from an ASCII file.
  info2ascii  -- Creates an ASCII file from an INFO data file.
  dbflook     -- Lists the header, field defs, and data in a dbf file.
  dbflist     -- Lists the data section of a dbf file to stdout.
  dbfitems    -- Lists the field definitions of a dbf file to stdout.
  infodir     -- Lists the contents of an INFO directory, with wildcarding.


The following are implemented as ARC commands.  They require ARC/INFO.

  info2cover  -- Creates a point coverage from an INFO file.
  dbf2cover   -- Creates a point coverage from a dbf file.


The following utilities are implemented as system commands.  They run
from the system prompt, and do not require ARC/INFO.

  infolook    -- Lists the header, item defs, and data in an INFO file.
  infolist    -- Lists the data section of an INFO data file to stdout.
  infoitems   -- Lists the item definitions of an INFO data file to stdout.
  infodel     -- Deletes INFO files, with wildcarding.


Determining which files you need
--------------------------------

The package is available via anonymous ftp from ftp.epa.gov in
/pub/gistechs/programs.  The files to get are dbf-N.N.readme (this
file) and dbf-N.N.tar.Z (or dbf-N.N.tar.gz if you have gzip), where
"N.N" is the current version number.

The dbf-N.N.tar file is the most generic from of the package.  It has
the complete source code, and everything you need to install the
package on various UNIX boxes.

There may also be tarfiles that contain pre-compiled executables for
specific machines, eg, dbf-N.N.DGUX.tar for Data General AViiON, etc.
These contain no C source code, just the compiled programs.  If there
is a tar for your machine, and you don't want the source, you can save
some time by getting that instead of dbf-N.N.tar.


Loading the package on to your system
-------------------------------------

Create directory where you want to keep the package.  This directory
will remain the permanent home for all the files.  Files will be
accessed from here when the programs are run, thus this directory must
be accessible to everyone whom you want to be able to run the
programs.

If you already have a previous version of the package, choose a
different directory, eg, dbf2info-N.N, where N.N is the current
version.  This will allow you to revert to the previous version if
desired.  Later, you can delete the old version.  If your old version
is 5.0 or higher you might want to run "dbfinstall uninstall" first.
This is not available below version 5.0.

If you received the package as a compressed tarfile, place the file in
the directory you just created, uncompress it and extract the files
from the tar.  If you received the package on tape, extract the tar
into the directory.


Configuring the package for your system
---------------------------------------

If you are installing from a pre-compiled release, skip this section;
it applies only to the full source release.

The install script checks for some system dependencies and configures
the package accordingly, but there are some things it can't check for.

There are two files to check.  The first is rbdpaths.h.  At the top of
the file is a series of variables for various systems.  Not all
systems are represented.  There are instructions in the file to help
you determine which one to use for your system.

The second file to check is PROBLEMS.  This file describes any known
problems that may arise during installation.  If a problem is known to
occur on your system, you will find instructions to fix the problem.


Configuring the install script
------------------------------

There is a script called dbfinstall that handles configuring,
building, testing, and installing the package.  This script is written
to run in the Bourne Shell.

The install script comes set so that all of the programs will be
installed as ARC commands, and none of them will be installed as UNIX
commands.  The last group of programs (infolook, etc) will thus not be
installed at all.

The advantage to doing the UNIX install, is that the programs will
then be available outside of ARC/INFO.  It's quite handy to be able to
list INFO directories, examine INFO files, create and delete them,
without having to start ARC.

If you don't want to do the UNIX install at this time, skip ahead to
the next section.  You can do the UNIX install later if you change
your mind.

However, if you don't want to do the ARC install, you will have to
edit dbfinstall and make the following change:

    change "install_arc=1" to "install_arc=0"

Unless you have chosen not to do the ARC install, the environment
variable ARCHOME must be set and available to the dbfinstall script.
If ARCHOME is not accessible to your shell, you will need to edit
dbfinstall, substituting the full path to ARC's home for ARCHOME.

If you want to do the UNIX install, you will have to edit dbfinstall
and make the following changes:

    change "install_unix=0" to "install_unix=1"

  Figure out where you want the executables to be placed.  This must
  be somewhere on everyone's path, like /usr/global/bin or whatever
  you use at your site.

    then change "binpath=" to the directory you selected.

  If you have an earlier version (5.4 or older) of the utilities
  installed, and you want to uninstall it before installing the new
  version, you will also have to set manpath to whatever you used when
  you installed the earlier version so it can uninstall the man pages.
  At version 5.5, and beyond, man pages are no longer installed.


Running the install script
--------------------------

Type "dbfinstall full".  This will configure the package for your
system, compile everything (unless you're installing from a
pre-compiled release), verify that the programs function correctly,
and install them.

You can do the steps one at a time if you wish.  Type "dbfinstall" to
see the usage for other options.  For more help on using the install
script, type "dbfinstall help".

If you encounter problems, consult the file PROBLEMS, to see if there
is a known fix.  If not, contact me.


Disclaimers
-----------

These programs are not recommended or endorsed by The United States
Government, or by the Environmental Protection Agency.  The programs
are provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or
implied.

These programs make extensive use of a public domain C package for
direct INFO access called infolib written by Todd Stellhorn of ESRI.  
The infolib code contains the following disclaimer: 

           This software is being released into the public
           domain.  It may be freely used whole or in part or
           distributed as a whole as long as this notice remains
           attached to the source code.  The author and ESRI
           do not assume any liability or responsibility in the
           use or distribution of this software. 


Randy Deardorff <deardorff.randy@.epa.gov>
US EPA Region 10, Seattle.
